Teal Rosse didn’t want to deal with a boggart. Teal didn’t know what her worst fear was, but she sure did not want to find out in front of most of the school. What could her boggart be? Bees? Bees were pretty scary. They moved in groups, and science didn’t really know how they communicated, and they could sting you which hurt. Whenever she and Dad were out hiking, they avoided bees with a wide berth. Teal didn’t like bees, and she was a little afraid of them, but they probably weren’t her worst fear. She stood towards the side of the classroom, eyeing the box suspiciously and twirling her braid around her fingers.

She wasn’t deathly afraid of bees, she wasn’t deathly afraid of spiders… what could her boggart be? Teal started thinking of all the the common phobias. Snakes (nope, Teal loved snakes. They were just weird legless iguanas!), spiders (nah), heights (maaaaaaaaaybe. Teal didn’t like heights. Or flying. Which is why she didn’t do them, so she wouldn’t be scared.). Piranhas? Those were scary. But they didn’t live around here, so she didn’t have to worry about piranhas suddenly jumping out of the swimming pool or anything. That one dream where all her teeth fell out? That had been legitimately terrifying, but Teal didn’t think she went around in fear of having that dream again (or in fear of her teeth falling out, thanks, toothbrushes!). Maybe, Teal concluded, she didn’t have a Worst Fear.

This class was stupid. Boggarts didn’t eat you (did they?), so what was the worst that could happen? You’d get scared, and run away. If you found a boggart hiding in a random box, you’d get scared, and run away. Boggarts didn’t pull you underwater to drown or lurk behind you, slowly making you sad forever, or run at your with an exploding horn. Once you knew it was a boggart, you could just laugh at it and make it go away. The worst part of a boggart was if someone else saw you be scared and crying or something. Or freaking out, cowering from the sun, and covering your eyes like a crazy person. Teal squinted at Russell, the weirdo upperclassman who always wore sunglasses. Well, this would explain the sunglasses. Maybe he was a vampire. She didn’t think vampires would be allowed at school with normal people, but RMI had seen more than one werewolf over the years, according to Mom and Dad. Maybe they were due for a vampire.

Teal waited for the sunlight to dissipate, and then watched a few more people face their boggarts. Some people were afraid of the lamest things. Annie, her roommate, was afraid of snakes, apparently, but the other girl managed to put a sweater and a little top hat on the boggart-snake. Teal giggled a little bit, then decided she should go next. She didn’t want to go last-- everyone would be watching her instead of talking about their own boggarts. Teal readied her wand, clenched her other hand into a fist, and stepped into the path of the boggart.

Annie’s besweatered snake vanished with a pop, but nothing took its place. Teal looked around for the boggart, confused. Then she heard a soft rustling sound and looked closer at the storage chest. It hadn’t been that dark before. It looked like a cloak was laying next to it… a cloak or … “oh no,” she whispered. A lethifold.

The lethifold swung back and forth on the floor, undulating closer and closer. How could she make it not scary? Lethifolds were horrifying. They’d kill you without a trace, in an instant. She had to get away -- maybe she could outrun it -- or maybe knock it back, blast it. It whispered against the floor as it came closer and closer, and she backed up, legs shaking. Teal had completely forgotten it was a boggart lethifold. Her mind was racing, trying to think of a way to defend herself.

“Relashio!” she croaked, but only two pitiful sparks shot from her wand. Teal stumbled backwards, trying to run without turning her back on the thing. She had to get away or else she would be DEAD. She realized she was whimpering as the lethifold drew nearer. Teal knew she was supposed to be doing something. Some part of her remembered there was a way to defeat this. Some very small part. Teal dodged backwards, bumping into someone. She fell -- the lethifold was almost on her -- it was going to eat everyone in the room -- “HELP!” Teal shrieked. “Get it away! HELP! Nooooooooooooo!”

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Holland stared at Russell, unsure of how to respond. He obviously hadn’t understood what they were saying, the way straight people usually didn’t understand when you made a joke about not being... more

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